Cruise Envy

Sorry gang -- busy week. The speed will pick up at the weekend.

Travel Day 2 - Sat 11/22

We woke up at the Hampton Inn in Richmond Hill, had our free breakfast, and hopped back in the car to finish our trip to Florida. One nice thing about I95 is there are plenty of places to stop as you need it. We stretched our legs as we got to the Florida Georgia line... can you tell we were a little car crazy at this point??

We continued down the road, and even stopped for lunch at one of our favorite BBQ places:

Late afternoon, our target for the day was finally in sight!!

5 people in a balcony room would make me crazy lol. The pride does have balcony rooms connected to an interior. They are in the fwd part of the ship. I don't remember what decks. That could be a neat option and a way to make ur own "suite" it may cost a lil more though.

I just came off the Pride Sunday in one of those connecting pairs. While I would do connecting cabins again in a HEARTBEAT I wouldn't do that pair again if you want two twin beds for the smaller room -- it was REALLY tight to configure it and be able to get to the door in the inside.

cant wait for more

You DEFINITELY need to stay tuned... several pictures of your girl!! She says you are CRAZY -- in a good way!!

I chose a Hampton Inn because we have a decent # of points with their loyalty program. It was clean, and had a good breakfast. There was a nice pool, although both boys declared it too cold to swim in.

There were several restaurants at the exit, and we chose to go down the street to the Denny's for dinner.

End of Day 1. Up next -- on to Tampa (another 6 hrs of driving).

Pre Cruise

Sorry gang, had a brain dead moment getting photo links to work! We live approximately 10-11 hours from Tampa. We considered (briefly) flying, but at $400 per person, it was much cheaper to drive. We left Friday morning after packing up. If you are looking for tips on packing light, you are in the wrong review!

We only packed a few things...

And at 9:11 am, we were OFF!

One of your photographers for this review is a 14 year old boy so please be patient with some of the picture quality until I have time to edit a little!

We stopped for lunch somewhere near Hardeesville, SC at a Hardee's.

We pushed on and stopped for the night in Richmond Hill, Georgia.

The Background

This was a family cruise for our family of four, booked in July 2013 as a 50th birthday cruise for me. Previously, we had only sailed on Fantasy class ships. Besides me, there was my husband (45), and sons 18 & 14 (older son has a mild form of autism). We booked cabins 5105 & 5107, as they were a connecting pair of extended balcony (8J) and interior (4B). This was our first balcony, having previously sailed insides.

A few things to note up front. We had a great cruise, despite some of the adventures to be described. :D I will include some details because I think they might be of interest to others, but please understand that I don't necessarily consider it to be a "bad cruise". We had a lively roll call, so hopefully some of those folks will jump in and offer their opinions as well.

I have 2700+ pictures :eek: so if there is something you want to see, I will try to include it. I *WILL* include 2.0 upgrades pictures as I go along. Also, I have to work this week so be patient if things start slow.

Ok? Here we go....

Making myself get started here -- we just returned on Sunday from a week long sail out of Tampa. Spoiler -- I had a great time!! We had rough weather, missed ports, an added port.... I will get going with the day by day this evening. For those of you hankering for pictures, my son & I shot 2300+ so there will be plenty.

I am sailing Sunday and hoping to sail at 4pm. Really hoping it happens.

From your mouth to the Captain's ears!!

The fantasy class balconies also have 0 privacy.

I booked last July. For both cabins my prices have dropped almost $1000. I have a 4B and an 8J.

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Cruise #8 for me, #4 for my family is coming up in 3 weeks. I personally LOVE traditional dining as I'm the big extrovert in our family.

Our biggest issue is getting my husband to commit to the schedule. We love (as previous posters have noted) being able to vary our arrival time based on the day's events.

Last cruise we had fixed dining because we were part of a group, and my husband enjoyed that (I was pleasantly surprised). We normally ask for the same wait staff during any time dining.

For the one who asked about preferences... my husband drinks unsweet tea with no sweetener, and he's a fast drinker of a lot of tea, so keeping that glass full with the right beverage is important to him. My son is always impressed when they remember what he likes for an appetizer. And yes, we have joined shared tables for dinner with anytime dining.

One of the blessings of an off-season cruise is that I collected, washed, and pre-packed swimsuits, cover ups, and water shoes two months ago. The clothes we bought for the cruise are hanging waiting to be packed.

I use packing cubes, and try to cross pack a bit JUST IN CASE. Since we drive to the port, there is also a small suitcase that is used for the trip down, that will be checked at the port. With four of us and two pre-cruise nights, there will probably be one cube per person in the small suitcase.

I usually pack one day of clothes per cube; it helps me be sure I've packed enough.

I almost always take the day we leave off, so I can have that last minute flurry of being sure I have everything on my list. The list helps. I would be a basket case if I had to fly to a cruise!!

I've sailed on her 3 times, booked for #4 June 2015.

Great - the only time it felt crowded was disembarkation, and trying to get into a comedy show :p It's a good layout and a well maintained ship, and I've always found the staff to be friendly and helpful

Not so great --

• parking is safe, but weird in how you have to drive to get there. Plus you have to ride a shuttle from where you park to the terminal
  
• No steakhouse, guy's burgers etc
  
• You cannot go end to end on the ship on the Atlantic deck, where the dining rooms are
  
• She does mostly 5 day cruises - we prefer 7
  
• No balconies
  
• One pool
  

I'd spend the $300 for the extra cabin & bathroom. We've sailed with connecting cabins and really liked that.

We too are on the Thanksgiving cruise too. Can't wait to see what they have done to the ship. My boys are super excited to ride the Green Thunder drop slide.

You need to come over to the roll call!

I am planning on writing a review, and I take a TON of pictures, but I'm not sailing til 11/23. Hopefully someone will write one before that.

Here is my free travel organizer. Don't mind the white pieces of paper. I had to block out the name of the travel company as to not get in trouble on here.

 

I really love that everything zips and is secure - especially the Passport part. The outside zips too keeping it all together. And it's a small size as to fit easily in my carry on tote and doesn't weigh really anything. Not bulky, cumbersome, or too big.

 

Not bad for free! I highly recommend it if you can find one!

 

P.S. Yes that is an expired Victoria's Secret gift card. I use it for my in cabin safe :D

 

OMG I love it... I want one!!

I'm similar to everyone else -- I use an accordion folder. Front pocket is boarding passes/itinerary. Next pocket is ID. One for hotel, one for each port. I use one for printed copies of any bon voyage orders. The back pocket always has the envelopes with my cash divided out -- those go straight into the safe when we board. I put all the paperwork from the cruise in it (Fun Times, sales flyers etc) as the vacation progresses.

I always buy a bright or funky colored one so it stands out. It is the last thing I check once we are in the car but before we pull out so I know we have it all.

I want to see a picture of the binder the travel agency sent -- I might have to upgrade!!

We will be on Fascination in less than two weeks and will be staying at the same pre hotel as you with the park and cruise package. I had read a review the shuttle was on old school bus but from your review this is incorrect. I was also wondering if I need to sign up for the shuttle before getting to the hotel. Thanks for any advice that you can give me.

Ours was arranged by our travel agent thru the hotel -- the shuttle was through "Go Shuttle" and it was a multi-passenger van. I would probably call the hotel and ask ahead of time about it. It does stop at multiple hotels, however we didn't do this on the way to the port since we had enough to fill the van.

I'm still in the incubation period for an outbreak of SDDS. :p

Thanks Connie!

Seems to be some decent savings on holiday cruises for the 12-hour sale. I have a 4k booked on the Pride Thanksgiving week for 4 of us, now with the sale I am debating upgrading to a balcony guarantee for $132 more total. I have never sailed on Pride before, is it worth it to chance the balcony guarantee or stick with the 4K?

You need to come join us on the roll call! My boys are in a 4B, and we got an upsell offer last week to an obstructed balcony on deck 4 that i turned down.

Great Thread! I'm looking forward to several firsts:

• Guys Burgers
  
• Blue Iguana
  
• Steakhouse (have a 1st night reservation)
  
• new Chef's Table menu
  
• four new ports, four new countries
  
• Mayan ruins in Belize
  
• Stingrays in Grand Cayman
  
• first balcony
  
• new ship (1st Spirit Class, Pride)
  
• Serenity deck WITH A POOL
  
• new embarkation port - Tampa
  
• 1st time at Gold since the new VIFP program
  

Thanks for remembering me WetToes!! I still want to know, but I'll survive if I have to wait and find out first hand. :D

Agree with the posts above, but I still play. I've won $5 and $25 on pull tabs before, and won $1000 on my last cruise. I only play once, maybe twice per cruise.

Once you book come join us on the roll call!! Link in my signature!